Technical Field
The present invention relates to predicting dangerous conditions and, more particularly, to providing cognitive workplace hygiene and injury predictors to guide safety decisions.
Description of the Related Art
There are about 350,000 annual workplace fatalities and 270 million annual workplace injuries worldwide. In the United States alone, this results in about $750 billion in lost wages and productivity, medical expenses, administrative costs, motor vehicle damage, employers' uninsured costs, and fire loss. These numbers include about 4,400 worker deaths due to job injuries, close to 50,000 deaths due to work-related injuries, and approximately four million workers who suffer non-fatal work-related injuries or illnesses. An estimated 14 million people worked in the United States manufacturing sector in 2010, with 329 deaths due to job injuries, $1.4 million in costs associated with each death, and 127, 140 non-fatal injuries involving days away from work.
In 2008, contact with objects and equipment was the leading cause of workplace death and the leading cause of non-fatal injuries involving days away from work in the United States manufacturing sector. Overexertion is the second leading cause of non-fatal injuries involving days away from work. Although these injuries are widespread, there exists no reliable way to adaptively learn about risk factors and provide warnings in real-time.